Customer Reviews

Introducing ZBrush

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a fellow author, I have bookshelf upon bookshelf of 3D books. Most of these don't get much use. "Introducing ZBrush," however, will get a good workout. Although I've always been impressed by the work produced by ZBrush, I've never been a fan of the interface or workflow and thus have used it relatively little to date. Eric Keller's book makes it all less intimidating. His book covers all the basics, plus includes ample step-by-step guides. The illustrations and example models are a step above many 3D books. I'm also happy to see instructions for importing from and exporting to Maya (ZBrush displacement maps look fantastic in Maya). The DVD includes models, materials, textures, movies, tools, and macros, plus a trial of ZBrush 3. Admittedly, there is a wealth of ZBrush information on the web. However, if you prefer to have a book at your fingertips and would rather not slog through forums for quick answers, this book is a good investment. (If I had a wish, it would be that more of the illustrations were in color, and not black-and-white.)

I've been wanting to get into Zbrush for a very long time. I even downloaded the trial version and surfed the web for tutorials. However, the lack of results were frustrating. Not only this book has helped me with the learning curve but also opened my eyes to zbrush REAL potential... it's very exciting. Now I can enjoy this wonderful piece of software.

To see the magic that ZBrush can produce, you only need to go to Zbrush Central and check out the amazing sculpture and imagery the talented ZBrush community is creating. If you have dreams of contributing to that magic, your dreams are quickly crushed by the daunting UI ZBrush hurls at you at first glance. It is an interface you will grow to learn and be comfortable in but initially, you quickly find yourself lost and frustrated in the menus and palettes. The help files are comprehensive and good if you are the type to learn from manuals, they will be of great help when you need to find out about a specific feature. The ZClassrooms and other online tutorials are also a good start, and there are excellent DVDs from Gnomon to get you going. But if you are one to learn from books, and want a good one around to turn to remember how to do something, you can't get any better than "Introducing ZBrush". Eric Keller is the perfect host to get you bootstrapped into the world of ZBrush. Whether you want to create 2.5D magic, or use ZBrush for its real power, digital sculpting, the chapters explain how to get what you need done.

Eric presents his material from the perspective of a digital artist and not as a technical babble dump of the applications capabilities. There are a lot of gems and shortcuts in this book that will help you in your pipeline, and it is a very easy and entertaining read. The book is also divided into 2.5D and 3D sections so you can jump to what you need and not have to machete yourself through a lot of unneeded info to get to what you want.

Some great examples to work on are provided both in a step by step fashion in the book and also as movies on the DVD. Overall I found this book a great read, and good reference to have on hand in my library of ZBrush reference material.

As a fifteen year veteran of the 3D art world, I can say that ZBrush is the revolution I've been waiting for, and the Introducing ZBrush book is fantastic!! I was able to complete projects within minutes of opening this book that would have taken hours, if not days using other apps. My wife was so impressed with what I created in so short a time, she asked to try...so, with absolutely no experience, she started the book, and in a few hours had an excellent understanding of the app, and was creating some very nice mesh. I read in another review that the CD didn't work, but I had no trouble with it at all, running XP Pro. I would recommend this guide to all.

This book really helped to open me up to all that ZBrush has to offer. Iv'e been working in motion graphics, and now gaming for the last few years, and really only came into contact with ZBrush as a sort of
appendage to Maya. Not really realizing how much it stood on it's own two feet. I really didn't bother to learn much past what it could do for my Maya models, so I'm really glad I picked up this book. Because I only knew a very narrow vision of Zbrush, it was interesting and informative right from the get go. The first tutorial alone touching on aspects I hadn't ever dealt with. I must asume it would be great for beginners as well, as the tutorial are very detailed, and progressively build on each other. Anyhow, it's a great investment for someone who wants to learn ZBrush, and has never used it. Or for someone who uses it as a "plug in", but has never really gotten to know it. It's also worth the price just to get your hands on the great harryhausen Medusa head that's on the DVD. Oh, that's another thing, the DVD is more then a bunch of Zbrush scenes saved at various stages. There are movie files that actually show the sculpting process, macros that play back within ZBrush, as well as a trial version of Zbrush.

If you want to understand what pixols mean, this is "the" book. Follow along the exercises and there you are: Two and a half D is not that complicated...

Great book. I couldn't wait for it. I found it at a bookstore and after looking through it I bought it. It did not bother one bit paying the cover price. Great book.

This book is a great reference book even for someone that is familiar to Z brush. There are so many features in the program that his book goes into detail describing. The step by step tutorials will help you get started with Z brush. It also touches on the 2D capabilities of the program, something that is often over looked.

This is a solid book for anyone using Zbrush. I'm an intermediate user mainly bringing in models from another program and exporting them back out. I've rarely had a chance to play with the 2.5D or a lot of Zbrush's little nuances. Eric has written a book that gets down to the basics is and simple to understand. It's setup in a linear fashion but is still very easy to look up what you are having trouble with and get right to the info you want. I've found that it's a much better source than looking for help or using the Zbrush help. This book is essential for beginners. Straight forward, easy to read and well worth the money no matter what skill level you are with Zbrush, Introducing Zbrush is a worthy choice.

Eric Keller makes complicated things look simple and fun. His teaching style is friendly and simple as in his prior books. The experience learning this totally different software is way more enjoyable with Eric's book. This is a book that slowly introduces you to Zbrush, specially good for people afraid of that software. He goes step by step with you.
This is a book that is absolutely worth having as reference....